Risky Business

It's a delightfully cold and wet day here in Los Angeles, the kind that makes me glad I have some of those warmer clothes. Although we really don't ever get anything in the way of weather here, since this is the movie capital of the world we get as dramatic as we can whenever it's anything other than seventy degrees with bright, blue skies.

So, the local news teams are all on storm watch and, to feed our need for drama, are showing us pictures of water running in gutters.

It's long been my practice to take advantage of days like this to stay inside, as warm as possible, and to cook up a big batch of chili. In a deviation from my normal practices, however, right now I've begun a big pot of chicken soup, which I normally only make when I'm feeling shitty. Right now I'm feeling excellent, though a tad sleepy, so I'm curious to see if this will keep me well or if it might, in confusion, bring on a flu or cold.

To keep the illness demons at bay, I'm not duplicating my get well soon recipe, which changes every time I make the soup, anyway. I'm leaving out my secret, crucial ingredient, the leeks, and using those yellow potatoes that dissolve. I may end up with more of chicken stew than a soup, but since I refuse even to acknowledge the concept of chicken stew, it will most likely be termed a thick soup.

Another thing I'm trying is using a chicken that comes from the butcher shop inside a small local market. It came wrapped up in several layers of plastic wrap and inside a plain plastic bag, so the environment benefits from the lack of ink. I would have been even more adventurous and seen what was inside a mysterious store that specializes in chickens, something I'm often tempted to do, but it was too far to ride on my bike. I think they even have live ones there, and some day I'll see if I have to slaughter my own.